


Where Are We Going?

by ShadowWriter_6636



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 09:29:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4474151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowWriter_6636/pseuds/ShadowWriter_6636
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thomas and Minho run together, that's all their supposed to do right? Find the way out, map out anything new that may come along, that's it. But currently Thomas isn't sure that's all that he wants to do with his new found partner in the maze. With summer nearly in full swing who knows what could happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing, all credit goes to the wonderful writer James Dashner!

          Thomas breathed heavily as he chased after Minho through the maze. The day was hot and it seemed like all the heat had gotten trapped in the walls. Thomas watched Minho amazed. Despite going at the same harsh pace since morning he didn't seem to feel anything. Thomas on the other hand could feel the sweat slicking over every inch of him making every step a specific hell of his shirt rubbing the wrong way and his heel slipping up out of his shoe a little more each step very clearly creating a blister.

          He wasn't sure he could keep up when Minho ducked around a corner ahead. "Shit. " Thomas muttered pushing himself to go faster to catch up. When he turned the corner though he miscalculated where a stagnant puddle of water had spread out it's slime and slipped slamming his head. His eyes filled with images of the gladers behind glass glaring at him. He rubbed his eyes dispelling the vision hoping that the cold wetness behind his head wasn't blood.  
          "There you are! What the hell did you do to yourself? " Minho was standing over him with his hands on his hips.  
          "I slipped. " He sat up wincing at the pounding in his head trying not to think about the memory of Minho's hateful look.  
          "If you can't keep up then give me a warning before you drop back. I thought you'd split off when I looked back and you weren't there. " Minho said walking ahead a few feet before turning around to face Thomas again with a pissed off look.  
          Thomas looked up sheepishly, "I can keep up, but how are you running this hard in this heat?"  
          " What are you talking about?" Minho gave him a confused look.  
          "I'm dying right now, my pants are stuck to my legs, I can taste my own sweat, yet you just keep going like it's nothing. " Thomas wiped at the streams of salt on his face as if for emphasis.  
          "Just wait greenie, summer's just starting. If you need to rest, then fine. Just tell me, don't let me get so far ahead that you lose sight of me. And if you think I'm not as uncomfortable as you you're wrong." Minho stripped off his shirt using the damp article to wipe himself down.  
          Thomas silently admired the Minho's chiseled body feeling the heat press around him a little to close, this was not the time for something like that.  
          "What are staring at? " apparently Thomas wasn't as discreet as he'd hoped.  
          "Nothing. We taking a break?" Thomas looked away feeling Minho's eyes on him.  
          "Well yeah, you hit your head didn't you?" Minho walked over.  
          "Uh, yeah." Thomas kept his eyes down.  
          "You hit anything else?" Minho crouched down and Thomas brought his legs up to his chest to give him more room, resting his arms on his knees.  
          "I don't think so. " He mentally kicked himself for such a stupid answer, but he honestly couldn't feel anymore damage than the head ache, but that could be the adrenaline talking.  
          " Well check, I can't use a hurt runner. " Minho looked at him intently. Thomas moved unsure for a moment of what he was looking for. He stiffened as Minho moved behind him.  
          "Hold still, I'll see if you're bleeding. " That didn't make Thomas any less tense and it certainly didn't stop him from flinching when Minho's fingers brushed through his hair without warning. Minho paused for a moment before gently putting his hands on Thomas's shoulders and squeezing. Thomas swallowed down the knot in his stomach and nodded, breathing out loudly and rolling his shoulders to get them to relax. Without another word Minho ran his hands back up into his hair slowly, as if trying not to spook him again, and smoothed his hair out of the way.

          It took awhile but eventually after Minho had turned his head this way and that way combing through his hair looking for sign of any major injury the touches went away. Thomas didn't want to admit to himself, or anyone else for that matter, that he'd actually enjoyed the sensation. Minho didn't say anything as he rose up, but Thomas could tell that there was something different in the way that he was standing.

          "We need to go now if we don't want to spend another night in the maze." Minho said giving Thomas a hand to help him up.

          "I thought we had fun last time." Thomas joked, unsuccessfully trying to ease the tension.

          Minho gave him all of two seconds look before turning and running back the way that they'd came. Thomas quickly joined him finding that the pace was slower than when they'd started, but none the less fast. They crossed back into the glade greeted by a surprised Chuck.

          "Hey Chuck, what's going on?" Minho asked lightly.

          "Alby said that he wanted to see you when you got back, something about the ceremony coming up." Chuck answered smoothly and Thomas wondered at why a ceremony would require Minho's input.

          "Alright, thanks, I'll see you later." Minho ran off without a single glance back.

          "You and Minho get in a fight or something?" Chuck stared at Thomas expectantly as he snapped back from his own thoughts.

          "No, why? Did it seem like he was mad or something?" Thomas felt a strange need to talk to Minho that he pushed to the back of his mind to save for when he could see him without anyone else around to listen in.

          "No, it's just he ran off without saying anything to you and you look-" Chuck sounded reluctant.

          "Look like what?" Thomas cut him off before regretting even opening his mouth.

          "Like something's bothering you. Is something?" Chuck eyed him suspiciously.

          "Nothing's wrong, I slipped while we were running, but other than that nothing happened out of ordinary." Thomas started walking towards the huts replaying the whole day from beginning till now searching for anything that had gone wrong other than what had happened.  _Was he acting weird when we left this morning? No, but he was running faster than normal...is it something to do with the ceremony Chuck was talking about? He still seemed okay when we left, it's not like he was in this mood then...was it because I flinched when he touched me? Maybe it was that...-_ _  
_

          "Thomas!" Chuck's yelling brought him back to reality again.

          "What?" He asked feeling nervous energy buzz under his skin.

          "I said that Minho doesn't like to be slowed down when he's running, it's why a lot of the runners have different partners. He goes fast and doesn't hardly ever stop, maybe that's why he'd mad at you." Chuck said exaggerating his words like he's said them a million times before.

          "He's not really mad at me, do you think?" Thomas asked reluctantly, not wanting to hear the answer.

          "I don't know, but he seemed kinda pissed if you ask me." Chuck walked away then like he was going to leave the rest of this up to Thomas and Thomas alone.

* * *

         By the time that night had fallen over the glade Thomas had worn a path in the forest going from one tree to another five feet away. He was actually starting to worry that he might have really messed up today. Why would Minho ignore him like he did if he hadn't? He had tried to tell himself that he was over reacting but in the end he found himself hiding in the trees to escape the others confused looks.

         Of course Minho had been running for a long time, of course he wouldn't want to be weighed down when the possibility of finding something new had been presented, of course he would want to look as far and as wide as possible in one day, of course he had to have Thomas, the newest runner who couldn't last very long sprinting at full speed in the heat, as a partner to look after. How would he fix this, how could he? Thomas rolled over these questions again and again trying to figure a way out to get Minho back on his side. Thomas was so entranced that he didn't notice Newt coming up behind him. 

          "Aren't your feet going to kill you tomorrow?" Newt asked making Thomas jump.

          "No their not, what's up?" Thomas tried to regain some pride ignoring Newt's amused grin.

          "It's time for dinner and you were missing. Some of the guys said they saw you duck in here and never return." Newt propped himself against a tree looking like he could stand there for hours and have a nice discussion about the weather.

          "Nice to know someone's keeping track of where I am." Thomas leaned back against the nearest tree crossing his arms, not to be defensive per say, but that energy was still going and he didn't want Newt to comment on the way he was clenching his fists.

          "Well if you want to thank anyone thank Minho, he's the one who asked me about you first." Newt said like it was nothing but his eyes glinted in what little light was left in the sky.

          "Minho asked about me?" the knot of nervousness was back.

          "Yeah, he said that you had gotten hurt and that he didn't want you doing anything for the rest of the night that involved you spending any extra energy on something that would mess you up during tomorrows run." Thomas tried not to show anything on his face, but Newt's grin was enough to let him know that he'd failed.

          "Yeah..I, uh, I slipped." Thomas admitted feeling his face heat up as Newt broke out in laughter.

          "Wait..so you...just like day one...fell...did..did you fall on your face too?" Newt asked between gasps.

          "No, I slipped on some stupid algae and slammed my head." he tried to defend himself.

          "Nice, well then you should really thank Minho then, cause he's not telling anyone what happened, just that you got hurt." Newt wiped non-existent tears from his eyes.

          "Really? Well you're probably going to tell everyone now anyway huh?" Thomas tried not to let his thoughts grab his attention away from the moment again.

          "Well naturally, I mean, I have to. There's already a rumor going around that you got stung and Minho's trying to cover for you." Newt waved his hand in front of him as if to say  _obviously._

          "Whatever, I'm sure Gally's the only one who actually believes it." he tried to shift the conversation away from Minho.

          "I'm fairly sure that he's the one who started it. Anyway we better get back before Alby sends someone else to look for you." Newt started to walk away.

          "Wait, he sent you?" Thomas followed if only to get answers on what was happening. He had zero desire to get back and see Minho yet.

          "Yeah, Gally was throwing a fit that you'd disappeared just in time so that no one'd see you once you'd come back from today. Like I said, he started that rumor." Newt said this causally, like it didn't mean that Thomas would have one more thing to deal with.

          "Great. Hey, what's up with the ceremony that I heard about?" he asked gently, he could see the fire burning ahead.

          "It's a bonding thing. Anything that anyone wants to get off their chest can without hard feelings." Newt continued forward briskly.

          "So you basically just come out with all the bullshit to the people's face that you'd been talking behind their back?" Thomas decided that he could use some brutal honesty right now.

          "Yep, all issues are discussed and at the end we can all feel like we're able to trust one another again since any problems are dealt with as best they can." Newt sounded tired.

          "Cool, give me the rest of the details later alright, I think I'm just going to head to bed." Thomas stopped now that he could hear the others talking. He could finally make out what the voices were saying and it wasn't anything he wanted to hear.

          "Oh hell no, if I don't come back with you what do you think they're going to do? Don't worry about what they're saying, come on Thomas. Hey guys, found him!" Newt shouted and Thomas fought not to tackle him.


	2. Perfection in a way...ish

          The images were back. They flashed rapidly across Minho's eyes, white, water, trapped; the only words that could come to mind. He tried to stay calm and work out what he was seeing, but it felt like only seconds before he felt the desperation to get away overwhelmed him shooting him straight up in his bed. Blinking, he looked around making sure he was still safe in the glade, well as safe as he could be considering everything. The sky was just getting light to the east but the air had cooled enough that he knew that it was early morning; way too early for his taste. 

          All the same he got up wincing at the way his knees popped when he stood up. They hadn't done that before too much but now that he was running at full ability with Thomas it was a reoccurring annoyance. When Newt had finally come back with Thomas tailing behind him last night he had felt kind of bad. It wasn't Thomas's fault that Minho couldn't get his head in the right place around him. Thomas had avoided him the entire time not meeting his eyes and instead opted to continue locking horns with Gally. It was pretty unsettling that he'd rather deal with Gally's accusations than talk to him. Unfortunately for him, they were still running together today. Minho took in the shadowed landscape listening for a possible danger before making his way to where Thomas would be sleeping.

* * *

 

          Some people find their peace in the flames of the fire at night, or in Fry's not-quite-right-but-still-home food. Each glader had something that made living the way they do alright. Minho decided that his peace was in the way that Thomas was snoring softly right now.

          Normally when he went to wake him Thomas would be breathing hard, sometimes he was even thrashing. As horrible as it sounds Minho felt closer to Thomas when he found him like that, it meant that he had dreams like the rest of them. But at the moment he was sleeping soundly probably finally trusting all the others enough to relax. Minho felt bad waking him but it was time to go.

          "Thomas." he crouched over him.

          "Hmm?" Thomas barely moved his lips.

          "Thomas." Minho shook his shoulder.

          "Yeah." he lifted his head; eyes still shut.

          "Get up, we need to go." Minho stood eyeing the others who were still sleeping.

          "No." Minho squinted down at him.

          "Shank, you got three seconds." he held up three fingers like that would intimidate the boy with his eyes closed.

          "Come on Minho." Thomas whined not seeing Minho's small smile.

          "Let's go greenie." he hoped to get Thomas mad enough to finally get up.

          "Fine." Thomas swung one leg over the edge of his hammock missing the ground by an inch, flipping him to the dirt with a groan made more of self pity than pain.

          "Nice one." Minho fought not to laugh.

          "Please shut up." Thomas pushed himself up.

          "Sure as long as you start running," Minho turned to see the wall pull open,"we're late."

          "Sorry, sorry, I'm coming." Thomas pulled on his gear jerkily.

          Minho watched the other runners take off into the maze. A certain warm ran under his skin, and he thought of red. Not anger per say, but energy red hot, boiling. He looked at Thomas, who was still on the ground, and felt a different warmth that still made him want to run. He let out a frustrated hiss tensing when Thomas winced. Having Thomas afraid of him wasn't the most desirable outcome at the moment but it certainly did help to make him move faster. 

          "I said I'm coming, sorry." He muttered the last part. Minho hated that Thomas sounded so small because of him. His overly open and spontaneous behavior was something that Minho had come to admire after seeing the shattered remains of hope in everyone else. Seeing Thomas bite his lip and look down felt...off.

          "It's fine, let's go." Minho took off towards the door not looking back to even see if Thomas was ready to follow.

         

* * *

 

          The sun beat down straight over head and Minho was trying not to let it's heat slip through his skull. Then again it was already soaking through the soles of his shoes so that even when they passed under the shade there wasn't a moments relief. Still it felt right to him in way that it shouldn't of. Sweat pouring down him, legs straining against their own weight, breathing nothing but humid air, this was a time to prove that he could live through anything so long as he could move his legs. As for Thomas who was wheezing against the frankly suffocating air Minho was sure that he was not having the same thoughts. 

          Coming into the maze took bravery, Minho could give Thomas that much. To run through it day in and day out took that and endurance that had to be earned. It wasn't like there was any real way to get it either. The only thing that Minho could say to how the hell to make it this long was to run through everything the maze could throw at you and keep doing it. The summer was probably the longest trial to face in the maze and it wasn't easy. Too many times someone ended up passing out while running and had to be carried home. 

          Despite the heat though Minho couldn't bring himself to hate the maze. Out here there was a freedom that no one else could feel. Running had it's risks and that was a part of it but at the end of the day out here you could be free like you couldn't be in the glade. But he knew that no one else really saw it that way. All anyone else saw was the danger, not the possibilities that once seemed infinite. Every twist and turn there could be something more. It was the only hope that Minho really allowed himself to have anymore.

          The sound of Thomas's labored breathing had him checking his speed, but he already knew that he had probably made this run out to be a punishment. Not for Thomas per say but more for himself in knowing that he had messed up yesterday. He worked their speed down steadily until they were walking and Thomas was giving him a strange look out of the corner of his eye.

          "Something to say shank?" his tone was a little rough but that might have been from the heat drying his throat out.

          "Why aren't we running? Isn't that what runners do?" Thomas asked carefully.

          "If you want to start running again I have no problem picking up where we-" Minho started.

          "No, no I'm fine..." he sounded like he wanted to say more.

          "Spit it out Thomas." Minho tried to stay detached.

          "Are you mad at me still?" Thomas stopped and turned towards him.

          "I was never mad. Look being where we are, where we've always been, makes you feel trapped. The fresh air that everyone says they love to get back to in the glade after running isn't so fresh to me anymore. I want out of this place, everyone does, but having you around on runs is kind of changing that feeling of being in a cage. Don't take this the wrong way but I like running with you so I may take it a little faster, that means that you have to stop me from leaving behind. If I lost you I'm pretty sure that Newt would kill me in my sleep." Minho laughed lightly worriedly looking at Thomas' blank face.

          "Okay, cool, just wanted to be sure, we should head back now right?" Thomas looked up at the sky visible from here seeing the sun had passed over them and the shadows were shifting.

          "Yea, let's go." Minho took off again, this time a little bit slower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so so sorry that I haven't updated in so long but I should have a longer chapter ready for this fic next week so please forgive my horrible timing and leave comments :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying my hand at a longer story so please be patient with me, I'll try to do weekly updates. Honestly though I'm just writing what feels right and seeing where the story takes itself, though I will promise steamy stuff later on. Thanks for reading and please comment ideas for where you think the two should end up!


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